Rakesh Sharma sees growth for space research in India

PUNE: Space research will gain more importance in the future, the first Indian to travel to space, Rakesh Sharma, told city students on Thursday.
The former Indian Air Force pilot added that students must be motivated to take up related fields for good jobs. He was interacting with students at New English School on Tilak Road.
Besides motivating the children, Sharma spoke to them about his odyssey.He said preparation for the space program took 1.5 years and the space travel itself was eight days. He also talked about the preparations required to work in zero gravity while in space.
Sharma further said space research in India is an ever-growing field and told students to keep an eye out for it. “In the coming years, space research will grow manifold. People will even be staying on the moon and there will be more transport between moon and earth. It is important students take up subjects that will help in related fields so they don’t lose out on this opportunity that will be present in the near future,” he said.
Sharma also advised the students about passion and commitment to goals in life. He said, “Don’t work just for money. Work to be successful. Decide on a goal in life and then work to achieve that goal. Work hard with commitment and perseverance. You will definitely succeed.”
Sharma told them to take on every task with confidence and hard work. “Before starting anything new, it always seems hard. But only when we start working on it do we realize that it wasn’t as hard as we thought it might be and it is in fact doable and easy. Never be afraid of failure,” said Sharma.
New English School teacher Shailesh Barge said, “It was a wonderful experience. Rakesh Sharma was invited as part of Aham Bharat programme. He also saw various projects set up by the students on astronomy, origami, mathematics and NCC. In fact, he loved an origami project by Std IX-A student Vinit Jadhav and has said he would send a special gift for him. He also tried his hand on charkha (spinning wheel). It was a motivating experience.”
Students said they particularly liked Sharma’s power point presentation where he spoke about his training and also shared pictures from the expedition. “It was inspiring. Space travel, the training, living there, etc, is tough. Yet, he did it and it is inspiring. He explained a lot of the technicalities in simple language, which inspired us all,” a student from the school said.